Hope: Not Shown, but Brilliantly Executed
by Well Dressed Disaster
Summary: Kingdom Hearts AU. Isa Ardval Mercy is a man with amnesia, who has done a horrid crime. As the most wanted man on Marikai Island, he is on the run from a life of slavery and torture. He has escaped from it before, he may do it again. But soon the realization of the many people after him kicks in. He needs his memories back, and someone to guide him along the way.


AN: Apologies, not going to bother with chapter names. This is going to keep my hands full...

* * *

Why is it that when a man wakes up, it's never in peace?  
What a bother.

Eyes open, and he sits up with a soft yawn. He feels every muscle on his body sore, and damn.. his head hurts. It pounds like drums that have gotten into his head; a freak parade with screams and yells that were unwanted, and they were unwanted for good reason. The man got up, using arms that are drenched with sweat and stained with dried blood. The smell of unwanted death reached his nostrils and he held his mouth, resisting the urge to let go of his stomach and loose whatever meal he has eaten before.

He looks around, clueless of his surroundings. He is not anywhere near another person. A faraway fortress can be seen, but the dense forest around him could not make it out. He looks at his bruised, abused body, and wondered what the Hell happened. He looks at his right forearm. There is a number and a word, carved into his skin with a deep knife... but it has recovered. It was visible, but it was old.

'Unity 1576'  
What could that possibly mean?

The man lets out a sigh, and he walks to the nearest body of water. It is not far, to his relief. He looks at the clear, clean water. He could see his reflection, and with that he saw anger in one eye, vivid gold. The other sea-green, but it's glacier rim shown cruelty. Not a care in the world. No matter what he did. But what he did is not known, and that is what terrified him. He takes another look at himself, showing horridly bruised skin that lathered into more colors than what should be shown for such injuries. It wasn't black and blue, it was black and blue and purple and perhaps even a sick yellow, it was all his injuries that he couldn't fathom how he could of gotten them. He runs his left hand through his long blue hair, to realize a fraction of his pointer finger... was cut off. No bandages and no protection; no way to hide what has happened to him. Such a shame he doesn't remember why. The confused and hurt man attempts to dismiss it all, as he rubs the dried blood off with the help of water that will be removed from it's purity. The bruises and scars remain.

"Unity 1576." He repeats in a soft, deep, and warm voice that should not come out of a man with such a filthy body to behold. The man lets out a huff, finishing with washing the blood from his arms as he gets up and starts walking to the fortress. However... with each step he takes, the knot in his stomach grew tighter.

He didn't want to go there.  
Something bad happened to him there.  
Why would he go somewhere than made him feel pain?  
Maybe because he is starving. And lonely. And scared.

He didn't care anymore. The man stomps to the fortress, getting closer. Ignoring the screams in his mind telling him to stop, ignoring every single time the drums of that psychotic parade grew louder... it all didn't matter. He remembers nothing, and yet the pain grows of whatever happened to him and it is telling him that going back there is not worth it. Even with all of this, the man goes on like a fool. The slight limp on his step disappears, but the stiffness and uneven feeling of each leg continues on. He approaches the wall, and then sees names, and faces of whoever belonged here within the obviously highly-guarded gates. His shoulders loose angered tension as he goes through every name and face of the large list. After what seemed to be hours of walking to the side and getting a headache from familiar but no longer remembered faces, sees his features that have been printed on now torn paper.

He raises an eyebrow as he finds something.  
His name.  
Is that truly all he has found out by all of this? That's a disappointment.  
It doesn't matter... he knows he is.

He is Isa Ardval Mercy, and even an insane_ deaf _man could easily find that this man was in a world of trouble.


End file.
